GOSPEL OF ST.

MATTHEW

A BIBLE STUDY FOR ORTHODOX TEENS AND ADULTS

CHRYSOSTOM
Read St. John Chrysostoms homilies on Matthew 1.

PRACTICE QUIZ
Take a quiz to test your knowledge of Matthew 1.

GET THEM AT WWW.ORTHODOXYOUTH.ORG/MATTHEW

CHRISTS GENEALOGY (1:1-17)

Blessed Theophylact on why Jesus is called Christ: The Lord, therefore, is called Christ, both as King because He ruled over sin, and as Priest because He offered Himself as sacrifice for us.

CHRISTS CONCEPTION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT (1:18)

St. John Chrysostom on the mystery of Christs being conceived by the Holy Spirit: Do not speculate beyond the text. Do not require of it something more than what it simply says. Do not ask, But precisely how was it that the Spirit accomplished this in a virgin? For even when nature is at work, it is impossible fully to explain the manner of the formation of the person. How then, when the Spirit is accomplishing miracles, shall we be able to express their precise causes?

ST. JOSEPH VISITED BY THE ANGEL (1:19-24)

An anonymous early Christian on why the angel appeared to St. Joseph the Betrothed: The angel appeared to him for three reasons. First, lest an ignorant but just man should do an unjust thing for a just cause. Next, for the sake of her mothers honor, for if Mary had been put awaynot among believers but among unbelieversthe woman could not be above foul suspicion. Third, realizing it was a holy conception, Joseph would in the future keep himself more diligently under control in her regard.

THE BIRTH OF JESUS CHRIST (1:25)

St. John Chrysostom on St. Matthew saying that St. Joseph the Betrothed did not know (Mary) til she had brought forth her firstborn Son: (Why) has he used the word until? Because it is common in Scripture that this expression is used without reference to specific, limited timesSo then here likewise, it uses the word until to make certain what was before the birth, but as to what follows, it leaves some further inference to be made. So it is necessary to learn what Matthew teaches: that the Virgin was untouched by man until the birth. But the rest is left for you to perceive, both as a consequence of the previous narrative and what was later acknowledged: that not even after having become a mother and having been counted worthy of a new sort of travail and a childbearing so strange, could that righteous man ever have permitted himself to have sexual relations with her.

QUOTE SOURCES
Manlio Simonetti, editor. Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Matthew Ia and Ib (IVP) Blessed Theophylact. The Explanation by Blessed Theophylact of the Holy Gospel According to St. Matthew (Chrysostom Press)
2010 Jason J. Barker and the Antiochian Department of Youth Ministry